Joe Goerbert

Founder & CEO of BrainHive

QX: Joe, not very long ago we had the pleasure to attend your workshop “Vocal Unblocking” while we were travelling with the Queen Mary 2 from Hamburg to New York City. Can you tell us a little bit about the workshop and its objectives?

Joe: The objective of the workshop was to make it easier for participants to talk in public, hold greater power of conviction in their voice and speak with more clarity the things that they wish to express. I started up the workshop with a small guided meditation, then set forth some real world examples of how internal blocking hinders us. I continued to make people execute small vocal exercises such as speaking a mantra and singing a repetitive but upbeat song line in different tonalities. If I remember correctly, it was "Sweet about me- Nothing's sweet about me- Yay Yay". Quite a blast, that one. The workshop went on for about an hour to touch on topics such as fears in general, shame, guilt and grief and how we can penetrate these blockades by having confidence in ourselves, indulging in healthy enjoyment, exercising power and opening our hearts to soak them in love for ourselves and others. Finally we came to the issues of cultivating perfect honesty and intuition and finally letting go of all worldly attachment to become the greatest version of ourselves.

QX: How does that connect to your professional life as a CEO?

Joe: I first learned about chakra unblocking when I experienced burnout syndromes working for my Chinese employer in Chicago. Luckily for me, I ran into a truly distinguished life coach playing Frisbee one day on the lake shore. His wife needed some copywriting done for her online wedding gown business, and so we hit it off. I absorbed hungrily the knowledge related to me by him and a book called "The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity". Implementing the knowledge, I noticed how I was becoming much more efficient at almost everything I was doing. This was happening beyond the pure healing effects, which together with a radically different nutrition cured most of my burnout syndromes. I decided to follow the path further and delve deeper into everything related to Taoism. Through chance and an unfortunate recurrence of health problems related to my spine I met more really amazing teachers. Today I am unable to imagine how I would be able to live my day-to-day life and everyday perform to the max without being in tune with myself the way I am. Daily Yoga and meditation, a very specific nutrition and abstaining from a host of indulgences is what keeps me up and running.

QX: You founded BrainHive more than 3 years ago with the background as a strategy consultant. What drove you into entrepreneurship? And why BrainHive?

Joe: I was getting really tired of my employers' way of communicating and treating people. Making the calculations, I noticed that due to direct and indirect taxation, working overtime plus commuting and lunch break, high prices for transport and entertainment and the social welfare transfer payments I wasn't really making any extraordinary amount of money either, especially when looking at the after-tax per hour earning. Contemplating my life, feeling the growing pains in my body and the resistance in my mind, I decided to make a run for it. BrainHive is a name I came up with observing the great productivity in bee and ant colonies, their beautiful and natural organization. BrainHive Consulting and BrainHive Marketing were to be places where the mental power of people of all walks of life is pooled and directed to achieve extraordinary things free from politics, ego and other work culture related restraints to productivity. After a momentary expansion in 2014 however I downsized again due to the difficulty of uniting lifestyle and leadership and currently only have a few freelancers I work with. I wish this to change however, and BrainHive to become a launch pad for young and talented people who wish to escape the mill and pursue a digital nomad lifestyle- all the while willing to work hard and smart of course.

QX: At the Leadership Conference 2014 you enthused the QX-Members with an unprecedented rap performance. How do you find the spare time next to your role as a CEO to pursue your passion as a rapper?

Joe: I always loved to write poetry, this started when one day I felt again bored out of my wits in school, I think I was 9 years old. Since I'm 14 I make rap music whenever I feel the muse. Indeed people whose passion is keeping themselves busy doing things they love never have time – they make time. I use a number of quite sophisticated productivity techniques, latest edge hardware and software tools as well as body hacking tricks such as polyphasic sleep, high energy detox nutrition and regular exercise to boost my energy. If I have to, I get by with very little sleep.

QX: What is it about rapping that fascinates you?

Joe: There is no other type of music that lets you put so much message into the 3 or 4 minutes you have for a regular piece. Many rappers accomplish extraordinary literary feats and they're able to talk to the younger generations in very special ways. I love street art, graffiti and breakdance, skateboarding and the philosophy of respecting and being respected. I grew up admiring hip-hop artists whose thoughts I vibed with intensely, I felt they spoke things of great truth no one else would dare to say out loud. Seeing the industry currently succumbing ever deeper into mindlessness and hyping hollow works to an over-saturated and thus somewhat lethargic new generation of kids is breaking my heart, and my dream is to one day bring out an album that will reach those who still care.

QX: What’s your New Year’s resolution?

Joe: 2016 will be all about incurring passive income and professionalizing BrainHive. Since I am someone who feels compelled to constantly try and dance on all the parties, I routinely bite off more than I can chew. They say if you're still in control, you're not going fast enough. But for me it becomes every day more clear that it is time to consolidate the expansion, clean my house so to speak. I feel a burning desire to pursue my dreams of freedom unburdened from the rubble and the rags of other projects I had to abandon somewhere on the way. I like to keep them invisible, but I'm still mentally, time-wise and financially invested in a lot of things that are weighing me down at the moment.

QX: And on a more general level – In one line, what’s your life goal?

Joe: My life goal is ultimate freedom- This encompassing my personal freedom as much as the freedom of the people I love.

QX: Your Vanity?

Joe: As much as I try, I cannot keep myself from wasting at least 15 minutes a day on 9gag.com - it's terrible!

Joe Goerbert studied finance in Frankfurt and afterwards worked three years in business consulting with two different mid-sized German-Chinese consulting firms, specifically in the field of market entry strategy consulting. In the beginning of 2012 he decided to take matters into his own hands and founded BrainHive North Consulting and BrainHive Ethical Marketing, one being essentially a business plan writing service (www.BrainHive.de) and the other a digital marketing and copywriting agency (www.BrainHive-Ethical-Marketing.com). In the end of 2012 he took off to South America to embrace the life of a digital nomad after already having spent prolonged periods of time there during his exchange semester in Argentina and intervals of remote working. Maintaining his business in good health and switching back and forth between Europe and selected locations on the American continent, he only recently connected with the digital nomad community around the world through conferences, workation retreats and personal outreach. Through their inspiration, Joe is currently in the process of developing a Taoist teachings series focused on unblocking nodal points of the endocrine and central nervous system in the human body- the chakras. Living the life of an artist (music, poetry) and craftsman (silver jewelry) next to his entrepreneurial endeavors, he loves the way an optimally balanced organism is able to set free boundless energies of all different kinds.